New Proposal Reveals Debate Formats For The Fall

[babylonsister]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/42287.html

Under debate plan, Obama loses height advantage
By Steven Thomma | McClatchy Newspapers

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The proposed debates also would feature a more open format to encourage the candidates to talk more to each other directly. The debates would be broken into eight 10-minute-long segments, each devoted to one issue. The moderator would pose an opening question, then prompt the candidates to discuss it themselves.

The moderator, who hasn't been selected yet, would try to keep the candidates roughly equal in time, but there'd be no 30-second time limits for answers, and no time buzzers.

The leaders of the bipartisan commission, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul Kirk and former Republican National Committee Chairman Frank Fahrenkopf, said the candidates' seating arrangements at the debates still could be open to negotiation between the campaigns.

Other proposals, including the dates and sites selected in cooperation with the Secret Service, weren't negotiable, they said at a luncheon with reporters.

The proposed debates are:

* Sept. 26 at the University of Mississippi, in Oxford, Miss.

* Oct. 7 at Belmont University, in Nashville, Tenn., the town hall session.

* Oct. 15 at Hofstra University, in Hempstead, N.Y.

The proposed vice presidential debate:

* Oct. 2 at Washington University, in St. Louis.